Is today going to be the last day we have a Fantasy Guru Daily without a labor deal imminent or an agreement in principle reached? We sure hope so. As the players and owners come down the home stretch in labor talks, we are preparing for the free-agency period, which could start as soon as Monday. What does this all mean?

CBA talks take another big step… Nearly nine hours of meeting on Monday brought the NFL and the decertified NFLPA even closer to a settlement in the Brady v. NFL case when NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith followed through on a promise to get increased benefits for retired players. While Smith is still looking for $320 million in lost benefits because of the uncapped 2010 NFL season, he did manage to lock up nearly $1 billion in improvements to the benefits program over the course of the next CBA, which is expected to last up to 10 years. The hope is that every big issue will be resolved by Wednesday morning, so the NFLPA can vote on approving a settlement via email or conference call with the 32 NFL team representatives, a vote that will likely also include the decision to [...]

Wednesday is yet another big day in labor talks as things heat up with players and owners once again in New York, and we also head to Denver, San Francisco, and Washington for some football talk.

Is a John Fox-DeAngelo Williams reunion on the horizon in Denver?

Fox wants a running back … One of the biggest offensive shifts in the league could come in Denver, where the wide-open passing attack of Josh McDaniels will give way to John Fox’s multi-RB approach. OC Mike McCoy is a holdover from the previous staff, but he has experience under Fox and will call the plays. Although the Broncos drafted Knowshon Moreno with the 12th overall pick just two years ago, Fox’s #1 priority is to bring in a free agent RB with Moreno potentially moving into more of a third-down role. It’s a move we agree with, because Moreno isn’t really equipped to be the centerpiece of an offense. He can put up decent production, but he’s limited with a lack of fluidity as a runner. Among the free agent RBs, the obvious name is DeAngelo Williams, who had a lot of success with Fox in Carolina, rushing for 1000 yards in back-to-back [...]

We are finally getting good news on the labor front, and details are starting to emerge about what a new CBA could like it. Get ready for a hectic time in fantasy football, as free agency could be just a few weeks away.

Free agency on the horizon? … The owners’ expected extended stay in Chicago ended up lasting only one day, but just about all the news coming out of their meetings was positive. Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that the dissenting opinions in the room were not very significant, with only a handful speaking out against the progress that’s been made in labor talks. He believes there is a push to get a deal done around July 4. Negotiations with the players are scheduled to resume today in the Boston area.

Obviously, this is all good news, but perhaps the biggest story of the day was a report from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen that provides an overview of what the new CBA could look like:

About 48% of revenue to the players
A rookie wage scale
No mandated 18-game schedule
The potential for a 16-game Thursday night schedule
Four [...]

Looks like the labor talks have picked up once again, so we will be taking a look at the latest developments as the two sides meet in court again today. Also, we take a look at possible landing spots for the soon-to-be-released Plaxico Burress.

Settlement talks? So you're telling me there's a chance!

NFL, NFLPA hold settlement talks … for three days this week in advance of Friday’s lockout hearing in St. Louis. As we discussed yesterday, the “secret” meetings took place just outside Chicago from Tuesday-Thursday, but the details of those talks became much clearer upon completion. In addition to NFLPA head De Maurice Smith and commissioner Roger Goodell, those attending included owners, players, and Judge Arthur Boylan, although his role was different from what it was during mediation. Speaking of mediation, sessions that were set to resume next week were cancelled by Boylan due to the current talks centering around a settlement, which he wants to keep confidential. No word on when these talks will continue, but it probably won’t be Friday since the sides return to the courtroom in St. Louis for the appeals-court hearing on the lockout. We’ve pretty much [...]

Well, here we are. It is March 3. The day of reckoning is upon us. Despite seemingly endless mediated talks in Washington over the last couple weeks, we are a mere hours away from the CBA expiring with no new deal in place.

March 3 arrives … The CBA expires tonight, and we await word on what happens to football in the immediate future. While a new deal seems highly unlikely, there is still hope that the two sides agree to extend the deadline and bargain for a few more days or weeks, meaning there has been some progress and a lockout could be avoided. If that’s not the case, then it remains possible that the NFLPA will decide to decertify before the day ends, meaning the union will cease to exist and individual antitrust lawsuits may be filed. And, of course, we still face the threat of the owners locking out the players. Once again, we recommend reading Andrew Brandt’s take at the National Football Post, where he lays out all the possibilities. Fasten your seatbelts, things are about to get interesting. We’ll continue to hope for the best.

Hasselbeck far from deal … With the negotiation deadline coming tonight, the [...]

The NFL off-season remains about as active as we could expect for a league just 10 days from losing its Collective Bargaining Agreement, although both sides are still working on securing a new deal before the deadline. Will that happen? We have no idea. But the combine is starting up, and there’s other news to report on.

A big day in labor negotiations forthcoming… The sixth day of mediated labor talks were highlighted by an unconventional break at around 3:30 PM, which can lead to all kinds of speculation. The fact of the matter is we have no idea what’s going on as neither side has broken its vow of silence, and we won’t know until someone says something. But today (Thursday) should be a huge day in the talks. The NFL and NFLPA will meet in mediation for the seventh consecutive day (the final scheduled day of talks), and the “lockout insurance” case, surrounding the owners’ ability to collect money from TV contracts even without showing games, will be heard in court in front of Judge David Doty. We are admittedly underschooled on this issue, so listen to people who know what they’re talking about discuss the issue if [...]

There still is not much to report on the labor front aside from the fact that the NFL and the players continue their mediated sessions. While the vow of silence continues, no news seems to be good news, as it was not a certainty that they would make it the full seven days without one side walking out. But here we were on Day Six, and talks continue. On we go to the rest of the news of the day:

You might want to draft Jimmy Graham … If the stock of young Saint TE Jimmy Graham wasn’t already on the rise after a

Saint TE Jimmy Graham should see an even bigger role in 2011 after the team cut veteran Jeremy Shockey.

strong finish to the season, it’s certainly on the rise now. The Saints cut veteran TE Jeremy Shockey, who battled injuries in 2010 and ended up 4th on the team with 41 catches for 409 yards and 3 TDs. Shockey, who will be 31 years old by the time the season starts, has never played all 16 games in a season and has missed 10 regular season games in three years with the Saints. Shockey would have made $4.7 [...]

About Matthew Camp

Camp has been a fantasy football player since 1997, when he remembers using the box scores from the New York Daily News.

Here are the top stories I’m following for Week 17 Cleveland (7-8) at Baltimore (9-6) Brown QB situation. Brian Hoyer (right shoulder/biceps) did not practice Friday. Rookie Connor Shaw is set to start for them at Baltimore. Do they give Terrance West any snaps to evaluate him? He played 0 snaps last week. Does Josh Gordon do anything to leave us something t […]

Here are the top stories that I will be following in Week 16 for fantasy. Philadelphia (9-5) at Washington (3-11) Robert Griffin III did play better last week, but does it mean anything? It’s hard to trust him even against a beatable secondary and a defense that lost a top pass rusher in Trent Cole. If you’re playing in Week 17, can you trust DeSean Jackson, […]

Here are the top stories I’ll be following in Week 15 with some insight on some of them. Pittsburgh (8-5) at Atlanta (5-8) Will Julio Jones play? It’s obviously a huge key for Matt Ryan’s ability to hang with the Steelers in a high-scoring game. Without Jones, they have no explosiveness in the passing game and Ryan will have to dink-and-dunk to Roddy White a […]